Earlier this year we covered Unbound Horror, the 4 song demo, by Ceremented, Phoenix’s/the world’s premier guitarless doom-death stone-cutters, and it was good. Riffs like time-lapsed erosion; howls like something buried beneath the belfry. Drained of treble and banished to the lowest frequencies like some kind of pale and monstrous worm, Unbound Horror did more than capitalize on its ingenious idea, it legit upset the mind.

Said coverage was part of our weekly feature, Demo:listen, and now—because, apparently, we’re dealing with a prolific lot here—we’re pleased to debut Ceremented’s follow-up demo, Chaos Mongering Degradation. For one thing, these murk-flinging quarrymen are now four. They did not add a guitarist, but a bassist. That’s right: They've now two bassists. They continue to sound nothing like Necromantia. And the rusted edge of the bass tone on Unbound Horror is here significantly rolled back. Together the two basses create an inescapable vortex that sucks you right in. The drums on CMD sound wet, as if the kit had been coughed up and spat forth from some pitchy maw in the earth; as if the drums are decaying organic material. The vocals remain as haunting as ever, but they too have been relegated to the aphotic realm. As a whole, Chaos Mongering Degradation sounds like being trapped in stone.

Here’s what the band themselves had to say about the creation of their follow-up demo:

We’re all fans of the various facets of extreme metal - the goal in adding a second bass was to delve further into creating something that doesn’t sound quite like any of the other stuff we listen to. The drum patterns trudge through keeping the consistency of our take on informal death which is what we wanted to create; something raw, primitive and moving with this release. We channel our disgust and hatred into every single arrangement in hopes of disrupting any vibration that conveys comfort. 

Heavy Metal Vomit Party will release a compilation of both Unbound Horror & Chaos Mongering Degradation on vinyl in the coming months, so keep your ear to the ground for that one. Tapeheads should look out for the cassette version of CMD, which Ceremented themselves plan to release “soon.” Here’s hoping for a larger run than Unbound Horror got. In the meantime, the new demo is officially available for download on Ceremented’s Bandcamp.